Oh crap! when did this happen?
by lunerwerewolf
Summary: 3rd in the Oh crap, saga. what happens when parents meddle in the love lives of their children? Gwendal is about to find out.


Gwendal smiled as he gazed down at his wife. It was hard to believe he was actually married. Just eleven months ago marriage had been the furthest thing from his mind and now he was happily married to the most amazing woman in the world. Ironically he had his mother and oddly Günter to thank for his wife. He'd have to remember to thank them for pushing them together even if they hadn't realized they were doing it at the time. his wife shifted curling up closer to his side as she slept. He smiled as he petted her silky hair, and pulled the covers up around them both, he closed his eyes contemplating the last few months.

OCWDTHOCWDTH

Gwendal groaned as he leaned against the door to his office. So far his mother had respected the sanctity of his office and had given him the space he needed to keep things running smoothly in King Yurri's absence. However he couldn't hide in his office all the time. He'd taken to avoiding family meals by eating in the kitchen. He'd also taken to only going to his rooms to sleep and only leaving once he was well and truly sure the entire palace was asleep.

He straitened and made the short trek to his desk, lowering himself down into his chair he gazed out the window at the truly cute sight of his little brother Conrart playing with his 4 year old son Ayden. He sighed in some ways this whole catastrophe was his little brother's fault. Their lady mother hadn't left the palace since she'd come home to find Conrart married with a child in his arms.

Outside Yozak was sneaking up behind Conrart, gesturing for their son to be quiet. He scooped the other man up into his arms and kissed his neck gently before setting him down. Gwendal smiled at the sight before turning back to his work.

His mother had thrown every available young woman above marrying age at him, since she'd come home but had recently began to despair of ever finding him a 'proper mate'. Most likely because he had systematically rejected them all, so she'd given the maids an all clear to try and get him to marry one of them.

The results had been interesting to say the least.

Just yesterday he'd found a random Kitchen maid naked in his bed!

OCWDTHOCWDTH

"Mind if I join you?"

Gwendal glanced up at the all too familiar voice, and offered the young woman in front of him a small smile. He didn't know why, but Gisela had taken to having her meals in the kitchens as well. "I would not mind your company lady Gisela." He replied evenly.

Returning his smile she dropped gracefully down onto a chair opposite him and began to eat her own bowl of chicken curry. He turned his attention back to his food content with the silent comradely.

They ate in comfortable silence for several minutes before Gisela quietly informed him. "you know it's kind of your fault I'm doomed to spending all of my free time either in my office, the kitchens or some high unreachable tower."

Gwendal raised an eyebrow in inquiry. "How so?" he asked after a moment.

"Your lady mother, our esteemed 26th queen, suggested to my father that we might make a 'good match' and now my father is suddenly very much set on seeing me wed 'before he wastes away from old age'." She replied evenly.

Gwendal blinked, Gisela had said that last bit in an almost flawless reproduction of her father's somewhat shrill over dramatization. "I'm sorry to see that my mother's current ailment seems to be contagious." He replied mildly.

Gisela smiled, "I suppose it cannot be helped, every parent whishes to see their child happy with a family of their own. Still, it really is too bad we cannot just find a way to make them think they have gotten their way."

Gwendal's head snapped up and their eyes met. Briefly they shared a small smirk, "My lady would you be so kind as to join me for a walk in the royal gardens after our meal?" he asked with all the courtliness he could muster.

OCWDTHOCWDTH

Gwendal sighed as he strolled through the palace guardians with Gisela at his side, it was a quiet evening and they both had had stressful days. The end result was that neither of them was in a hurry to break the tranquil silence. In the month that they'd been pretending to date simply to preserve their mutual sanities, things had changed between them.

They'd actually become friends.

Still today had been an exceptionally bad day for the entire family.

They wouldn't even be out here right now if Yozak hadn't insisted that they both get some rest.

Gisela rubbed her eyes for a second before asking quietly, "How's El doing?"

Gwendal glanced over at her, and considered his words carefully before he replied. "El is doing alright, all things considered. His broken arm will heal with time – he's a very lucky little boy. But I suppose you already know that. Beyond that – who can say? He could have been killed, would have been if Conrart hadn't been there – and he knows it. That's a heavy burden for one so young." He paused briefly so that she could digest that before asking. "How's Conrart?"

He'd returned from checking on El only to have Gisela shoved into his arms and to have Yozak push Gisela into his arms and ordered to make her rested a bit before she came back. Apparently there was nothing more she or the other healers could do.

Yozak's wording had filled him with dread, and he worried for his little brother.

Gisela sighed. "That Stallion broke 4 of his ribs and fractured 2 more. He's lucky the damned beast missed his spine. His pelvis is fractured in 2 places, so it will be a couple of months before he's up and around again. He's going to need physical therapy – even so I doubt he'll be able to walk without a limp. He has a pretty bad concussion, so I'll be very surprised if he remembers much of the next week." She paused and looked down, before continuing. "Yozak thinks it will be better if we don't tell Conrart he was pregnant, he doesn't want to cause his husband any more pain. Personally I'm not so sure that's a good idea, particularly since I don't think he'll be able to conceive again after this - at least not easily. For now all that can be done for him, has been."

Gwendal nodded quietly. _Great One what had El been thinking trying to ride that stallion. It wasn't even broken yet!_ He remembered how terrified he'd been when he'd seen El attempting to jump onto the thing's back from the fence. At the time there had been nothing he could do. He'd just glanced out his office window in time to see the boy jump. He'd gotten to the courtyard in time to see the horse go down with a cross bow bolt in its side. El had been sitting on the ground just outside of the pen holding his arm to his chest and sobbing. Hube – who'd already dropped the crossbow had spared his son quick glance, before hurrying to the horse's side. It wasn't until he'd gotten closer that Gwendal had even seen Conrart. Apparently El had broken his arm when the stallion threw him. Conrart – who had been the closest intervened before the horse could trample him, shoving the child bodily out of the way. The result was that the horse's first blow had made it impossible for the man to get away.

Weather the first blow had been to the one that resulted in concussion or the one that had fractured Conrart's hip – Gwendal had no clue – but by the time Hube had gotten there the younger man had been just clinging to consciousness.

When he'd slipped into unconsciousness in Gwendal's arms before Gisela had been able to reach them Gwendal had been sure his little brother wouldn't live to see the morning.

Gwendal rubbed his nose, and stopped walking, carefully he reached out and took hold of Gisela's arm, and then he pulled her into his arms. "You did everything you could." He told her gently. "Because of you Conrart is alive and will walk again. That's more than _any _of us expected."

For a while they just stood there in the torch light, clinging to each other. After a minute Gisela pulled away whipping her eyes on the end of her sleeve. "We should get some sleep Gwendal. Tomorrow I have two patients to check on, and you will likely end up babysitting Ayden so that Yozak can get a few hours of sleep himself."

Gwendal nodded and together they turned and made their way back into the castle, neither realizing that they were holding hands.

OCWDTHOCWDTH

6 months later Gwendal found himself standing in front of a full length mirror in his bedroom trying to figure out how best to propose to the woman he loved.

"Calm down Gwendal, you'll do fine." Conrart said quietly from his place on the foot of his brother's bed. He'd healed quite nicely from his brush with death and other then a dull ache in his hip when it snowed and a few interesting scars on his hip you wouldn't have known he'd nearly been killed by a 17 hands tall stallion that was hell bent on crushing him.

He didn't even have a limp.

Gwendal sighed, "what if she says no?" he asked after a second.

"She won't."

"What makes you so sure?" he asked mildly.

Conrart just smiled, "I know things." He replied mildly, then sighed and asked "Just what does my husband do for you again?"

Gwendal blinked, and then tucked the ring he'd obtained for this exact occasion into his pocket and left the room with a smile on his face. It was hard to believe that his entire relationship with the woman had started with their mutual desires to get their parents to stay out of their non-existent love lives.

He guessed he should thank his mother.

OCWDTHOCWDTH

It had only taken 2 months to plan their wedding but it had felt like an eternity. However it was worth it just to be able to curl up with the woman he loved. To know she would be there when he woke up every day for the rest of their shared lives. He couldn't help wondering though would they have any kids of their own? And if they did would they to find themselves playing matchmaker?


End file.
